Suns 93, Clippers 90: Phoenix played desperate at the end — lose and they were likely toast in the playoff race, but with the win they tie the Jazz for the eighth spot in the West. Big win for them. On the other bench, this loss was a gut shot to the Clippers chances of winning the Pacific division — they are just one game back of the Lakers with three games to play, but the Lakers own the tiebreaker.

For a stretch near the end this was the Chris Paul and Steve Nash show, and the Suns closed the game out on a 10-4 run because Nash got better support. Nash was doing what he does, drawing defenders and finding the open guy and when forced to shoot he was hitting ridiculous high banks off the glass. Credit the Suns for some defense, too — Blake Griffin got 14 points in the first quarter but just two the rest of the way as Channing Frye and friends fronted the post and worked to keep the ball out of his hands. It wasn’t a smooth win for the Suns, but it was one they needed.

Hornets 105, Rockets 99 (OT): You can stick a fork in the Rockets — they are officially out of the playoff race, a game back of both the Jazz and Suns (and without either tiebreaker). In some ways this game felt like a synopsis of the season — the Rockets had nice double digit lead at points in the second then the Hornets doubled up Rockets 26 to 13 in the third. In the fourth the Rockets attacked and it was tight. Courtney Lee almost saved the Rockets playoff chances when he made a great steal and drew a foul, but when Lee only hit one of two free throws he tied the game and did not get the Rockets the lead, the result was overtime. In OT the Hornets went on a 12-1 run and it was over. Credit Carl Landry with a big night inside, 20 points and 10 boards.

Pacers 118, Bucks 109: This win cements the Pacers as the three seed in the East, and it leaves the Bucks on the outside looking in at the playoffs. This game was chippy and felt like two teams fighting for playoff spots, although Larry Sanders just lost it at one point and got tossed. David West was the best player on the floor — 21 points (on 14 shots), 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Timberwolves 91, Pistons 80: Detroit has a good young center in Greg Monroe but he was no match for Nikola Pekovic, who had 23 points and 9 boards on the night. Detroit tried in the last quarter — Will Bynum has been buried on the Pistons bench most of the season (they tried to move him at the deadline), and he didn’t play the first three quarters of this game then dropped 17 in the fourth. But with a double-double from Anthony Randolph (15 and 10) the Timberwolves cruised.